Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 557: The Independence Army on the Highway
On a starry, dark and quiet night, in the dense rainforest, on an artificially cleared space, hundreds of tents are lined up together.
In one of the tents, there were two men and women sleeping. The woman had light brown skin and golden hair. Although her eyes were closed, her high nose bridge and plump lips still showed that she was an extremely beautiful woman.
The man's appearance was ordinary, with reddish-yellow skin, facial features that were not very three-dimensional, and a bun that had fallen apart but the traces of it were still clearly visible.
“Hiss~hiss~”
Just as the couple was sleeping, a tree snake with its tongue spitting out appeared in the tent.
It seemed that the couple had long been accustomed to the appearance of such uninvited guests. When the snake just hissed a little, both of them woke up at the same time. Then the man quickly opened the quilt, grabbed the boots at hand, and threw them towards the source of the sound.
The hissing sound stopped, and the woman quickly lit the oil lamp beside her, while the man stood up naked, walked to the place where the hissing sound came from with the help of the light, skillfully grabbed the tree snake's vital point, and then easily liberated it.
After doing all this, the man turned around and saw the woman in the bed covering her body with the quilt. The man chuckled and said, "I say, are you still shy?"
"You don't understand us women's minds." After saying this, the woman grabbed the man's underwear and threw it at him: "Put it on quickly, it's so ugly!"
" No, in this rain forest, I might have fallen asleep and not sensed the snake crawling in. If I was still wearing clothes, the snake would get lost in my clothes and bite me. Who knows if the one that bites me is poisonous or not? You can't bear to see me die young, right?"
"Humph!" The woman rested her head on the man's shoulder who had reentered the bed. "It would be better if you died. If you died, I would have a new lover."
"Haha!" The man was not angry at all, but had a playful expression: "Ms. Diya, how did I, Zhu Shengmiao, serve you so well that you want to change your lover?"
"You are such a treacherous mistress. The food, weapons, and medicines you brought from Ming are all too expensive."
"Thank God, I did my best in Beijing and spoke well of your army. I finally got Wang Chengen's permission to buy goods from various factories at cost price. Then I had to transport these things from Ming Dynasty across the Pacific Ocean to you. It was a life-threatening journey. The cost here is ridiculously high! After deducting the loss of the ship and the sailors' wages, I didn't make a penny!"
"Humph, do you think I've never been to the Ming Dynasty? The factory price of an Apocalypse I rifle is one silver dollar and three silver dimes. Even if you've worked hard all the way and spent a lot of money, you're still too mean to quote me three silver dollars."
"Oh, my Queen, what is the price like? I'm getting goods from the arsenal in Zunhua now, and it costs two silver dollars a rod thanks to Wang Chengen's note. I'm quoting you three silver dollars a rod. How can you be so mean?"
"I don't care. I don't have any money now. Either I pay $2.50 a club or I owe you the money first."
"...I don't mind, but my crew won't come if I can't pay them. You have to know that although we have taken Hawaii and established a transit station there, this is the Pacific Ocean after all. Once sailors are on board, they can't eat fresh vegetables for several months except for bean sprouts, and they are very likely to get scurvy. If the salary is not higher, who would be willing to go out to such a long sea?"
"Two dollars and sixty cents, you heartless fellow!"
"... Never mind, I've already lost hundreds of millions, so I can save a little bit. I'll give you 2.7 yuan. Stop it, I'll give you 10% off on everything else!"
"That's more like it." Diya turned over and faced Zhu Shengmiao's chin: "Sir, next time you come, bring me two more 75 cannons. The cannon you brought last time, after we trained well, we used it in actual combat for the first time and easily knocked down the wall of Lima. That was the first time our independence army captured a big city."
"Okay!" Zhu Shengmiao put his palm where he felt comfortable: "Cannon, no problem. But I have to remind you, your army has more than 20,000 people, but most of them are ordinary farmers or miners. After completing basic training, there are probably less than 2,000 people who can really fight. The reason why you have won consecutive battles against that stubborn Marquis during this period is just because of the advantage of equipment. Before I went to sea this time, I received news that the Sixth Division of my Ming Dynasty has returned to the mainland. According to their analysis, the war will not last too long... If the European and Austrian war is over, Spain can free up its hands and send out new troops... In short, I can give you cannons, but now is really not the time to fight an offensive. As for the main decisive battle, don't even think about it."
"I know! You are such a straight talker, it's really annoying."
"I'm doing this for your own good!"
"I know, but you're still annoying. Alas, you, as a man, don't understand women's minds at all."
"Again! Well, let me praise you. Well, you were right to take Lima and then give up on him so decisively."
"I want you to praise me! I am a top student of the Imperial Military Academy of the Ming Dynasty. I am much better than a coward like you who dares not even take part in the provincial examination! Saving people and losing land is the best way to gain both people and land. Don't worry, I am very clear-headed. At this moment, the most important thing is to preserve our own manpower and not to care about the gains and losses of a city or a place. I want to mobilize all the Indians in America. Only when all our Indians know the existence of the Independence Army and the significance of national independence, can our cause be truly successful!"
"First of all, I want to correct you. If I hadn't been shipping goods to you one after another, how could I not take part in the provincial examination?"
"Oh, Mr. Zhu, this is your first time to come here with me, so I will treat it as your personal escort. But the second time, this third time, why did you come in person?"
"Humph, it's because some people are seducing me, otherwise..."
"So you can't find a wife in Ming Dynasty. At this time, shouldn't you praise my charm and be distracted after seeing me once? So much so that when you return to Ming Dynasty, you are bored by all the beauties and would rather cross the ocean and risk your life just to see me again?"
"Well, I've learned your lesson...Okay, let's put these aside and get down to business." Zhu Shengmiao pulled his hand out and put his hair up. "This third batch of supplies, in addition to fifty boxes of penicillin, includes a total of five thousand rifles, twenty heavy machine guns, twenty light machine guns, fifty Jiguang submachine guns that my Ming Dynasty has just finalized and mass-produced, and two thousand grenades. The corresponding bullets are equipped with fifty bases of ammunition. Such a large amount of arms is enough for you to fight a medium-intensity battle. Tell me, what are you going to do?"
Tia also turned over again, sat up, and began to put on her clothes: "It is August of 1626, and the southern hemisphere will soon enter summer. I plan to use the weapons and ammunition seized in Lima to train the newly enlisted militia. Alas, the weapons of Ming and Spain are different and cannot be used interchangeably. These captured weapons can only be consumed in training.
When the weather warms up, I will lead the army south to Santiago. There are several large copper and saltpeter mines nearby, where a large number of compatriots work as coolies. If we can liberate them, our strength will definitely double. At the same time, in the south of Santiago, one of our Indian tribes, the Laucans, still maintains independence and has been fighting the Spaniards on the Pampas for many years. After I liberate the miners, I will lead the troops south to establish a base there. "
"Well... I don't know much about military matters, but what you said does make sense. Speaking of which, I have two requests."
"you say."
"After establishing the base, build a seaport to facilitate the transportation of supplies in the future."
"Yes, but we don't have a navy, so we may not be able to defend it."
"That's easy. The ironclad ships of the Ming Dynasty have already been finalized and put into mass production. Sailboats are gradually being phased out. As long as you have enough money, you can buy them."
"You are such a heartless person. You have to ask me to come and serve you in person to buy some infantry equipment. Where do I get the money?"
"Haha, we are talking about feelings, not money." After a casual smile, Zhu Shengmiao said, "This is the second requirement. According to my emperor, although there are huge saltpeter mines in the Turpan Basin of Xinjiang Province in Ming Dynasty, on the one hand, the railway from the inland of Ming Dynasty to Xinjiang is still under construction, and no matter how much minerals there are in recent years, they cannot be transported out. On the other hand, the saltpeter mines in Ming Dynasty are not pure natural saltpeter mines."
"You mean I can pay off my debt with saltpeter?"
"Yes. According to what the professor at Fangshan Laboratory said before I set out this time, in addition to being used to make gunpowder, saltpeter can also be used as agricultural fertilizer and to speed up the smelting and purification of copper ore. It is extremely useful. And according to the emperor, the saltpeter mine near Santiago is the only natural saltpeter mine in the world. Therefore, my Ming Dynasty is in urgent need of the saltpeter here."
Speaking of which, in March of this year, when Zhu Youdong met Zhu Shengmiao at Nanjing Port, he had instructed Zhu Shengmiao to guide Tia 's main force to Chile to develop a base after he went to America: this place has many mountains and frequent earthquakes. But the more so, the richer its mineral resources are. In the 21st century, Chile made a lot of money just by selling copper and saltpeter.
As for copper mines, although the Ming Dynasty lacked them, they could still be supplemented in Southeast Asian countries. However, natural saltpeter mines were truly unique in the world.
Unexpectedly, after coming here, Tia also wanted to go to Chile - of course, at that time Spain did not have the Viceroyalty of Chile, and this narrow mountain area was still under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Peru.
After seeing Diya nodded in agreement, Zhu Shengmiao said, "I have one more thing to report."
"you say."
"Your Chinese pronunciation just now is not quite correct. The natives of this land are not Indians, but Yindians. They are the descendants of the second dynasty of China, the Shang Dynasty. You are the same yellow race as us. Therefore, in order to support the independence of his compatriots, my emperor decided to increase his support. In the spring of 1627, he will send several key officers of the Ming Dynasty and a small number of elite soldiers to the American continent to support your independence. Before that, you have to help me prepare the translators and guides."
Looking at the speechless Diya, Zhu Shengmiao patted Diya's shoulder cheerfully: "Don't worry, we are here to support your independence army. With the direct participation of my Ming officer corps, the vast majority of Yindian people will break free from the shackles and establish their own independent country. The process will surely enter a period of rapid development!"
